Full Recap: Portland Timbers Take Max Points

With the remnants of a typhoon breaking records for rainfall pouring liquid sunshine onto the cozy confines of Jeld Wen Field the Portland Timbers took on the LA Galaxy. The wet conditions were not conducive to the style of play both teams wanted to play and the first half was a sloppy affair. Even though it was sloppy at times the game was still a back and forth affair with both teams applying high pressure to disrupt the offensive flow of the other team.

During the first half the LA Galaxy had the majority of the chances and most of them came off of counters which were created because of bad touches or passes by Portland players. Portland's veteran backline was more than up to the task as they only allowed two shots to reach Donovan Ricketts and each of those saved. One was spilled for a rebound but Jack Jewsbury was first to the ball and cleared it away for a corner.

On the offensive end the Timbers were threatening but just like against Colorado they struggled to break down the opposing defense. The first half continued in this manner as LA created a few more dangerous chances but Portland's defense bent but didn't break and in the end each team had sub 73% passing accuracy (LA was sub 70%).

When Portland came out of the second half they looked like they had a little more bounce to their step and looked like a team that believed they were going to win the game. The added bounce in their step showed in the attack and they started creating a few more opportunities.

Right about the 48th minute The Mike Donovan turns to Will and I and points out he tweeted out an anti-jinx tweet. At this point in the game the Timbers had gone 109 minutes without a shot on goal. In fact the last shot on goal was sometime in the first half of the Colorado game. Either Portland was going to get a shot on goal or they were going to continue to struggle.

Portland did get their first shot in over 109 minutes and boy was it a Golazo. In the 52nd minute the Portland Timbers earned a corner kick and Will Johnson was set to take the kick. His corner was hit to the near post and Maximiliano Urruti was making a near post run. Urruti was closely marked and his run took him past the ball's trajectory in such a way that he could only stick a boot out to get a slight touch on the ball. The ball changed directions and went into the goal right in between the near post defender and a scrambling Jaime Penedo.

Once Urruti scored Portland created even more shots on goal but none of them found the back of the net. Defensively they stifled LA's potent defense and did not allow a single shot on goal in the second half.

Observations

• Portland has gone 13 games without losing at home and have won 10 of those.
• With other results going Portland's way the Timbers could probably clinch a playoff berth with a win at our House in the middle of BC.
• Urruti fits this team so well.
• We fans harp on the Referees a lot and usually we only point out when they are bad. I want to point out that this referee reffed one of the best games I have seen this year.
• When Portland is healthy they can play with anyone in this league and they are getting healthy at the right time.
• Just think about a year ago all Portland had to play for was the Cascadia Cup. Now they are still in the running for the SS, playoffs, CCL berth, and Cascadia Cup.
• The Timbers have given up 9 shots on target the last 4 games. In order the games have been 3,3,1,2 and this is a great sign for the playoffs.